Local archers take aim during Senior Olympics

The three locals were among the 10,000 athletes who competed in 18 sports at the 2001 National Senior Games held in Baton Rouge, La.[ Related Story:

Archery
Club hits the mark: Wa-Xo-Be offers a 21-acre place to take your bow. ]
By: Brian Shappell

    Local archers Frank Kozielec Jr., Douglas Joyce and
Andy Roslewicz lost out on their chance to defend their first-place honors
in the New Jersey Senior Olympics when the games were canceled because of
the World Trade Center tragedy two weeks ago.
   Still, the trio have plenty to hang their hats on —
or rather, their bows.
   Mr. Kozielec, Mr. Joyce and Mr. Roslewicz, all members
of the Wa-Xo-Be Archery Club, competed in various age groups of the compound
release archery division at the 2001 National Senior Games (The Senior Olympics)
held in July in Baton Rouge, La.
   The three locals were among the 10,000 athletes who competed
in 18 sports around the campus of Louisiana State University.
"
Frank Kozielec
Jr., Doug las Joyce and Andy Roslewicz practice at the Wa-Xo-Be Ar chery
Club recently.

Staff photos by Andrea Kane
   And they did plenty to hold their own.
   Mr. Kozielec took home a bronze medal in the 70-74 age
group while Mr. Joyce earned a fifth place in the 60-64 group and Mr. Joyce
earned an eighth in the 50-59 division.
   "We felt we represented our club very well," said Mr.
Joyce, the Wa-Xo-Be club president. "We were happy."
   The National Senior Games, which began in 1987, are held
every two years for athletes 50 years old and up. The games were founded
15 years ago in St. Louis to promote healthy lifestyles for seniors through
fitness and sports. Participation more than quadrupled between the first
games, which included 2,500 athletes, and the 1999 games in Orlando, where
12,000 competed.
   "It’s quite an experience," Mr. Joyce said. "Just to see
the other athletes and the age of some of them is incredible. The whole
atmosphere was good. Shooting in that atmosphere is a neat concept to have
because it gives people of an older age a chance to compete."
   Mr. Roslewicz said he was particularly struck by one athlete,
John Pino of New Mexico, who is still competing at 101 years of age.
"
Andy Roslewicz
displays but tons and a New Jersey patch on his hat.
   "That was the thing that touched me," Mr. Roslewicz
said. "This 101-year-old man would get wheeled out to a target and got up
to shoot. That’s dedication."
   The shoots weren’t easy for any age group as the heat
index reached 115 degrees on the day of competition.
   The archers also had to work hard to keep focused over
7½ hours of shooting because there weren’t enough targets for the amount
of people that signed on for the sport.
   "It was a competition of endurance," said Mr. Kozielec.
"God smiled on me in the last one, but this time, I just made too many stupid
mistakes to win."
   Though all three were looking to win at the games, as
Mr. Kozielec did in 1999, winning wasn’t the main concern — enjoying
the moment was.
   "You really get to meet a lot of people," Mr. Roslewicz
said. "One day I shot with guys from Texas, California and Hawaii. That
guy from Hawaii was just a bundle of laughs."
   Mr. Roslewicz’s wife, Marge, described the evening events
as "big parties with bands and dancing."
   For these athletes, it was just a great opportunity to
test their skills with other like-minded individuals, many of whom shoot
for two to three hours every day like Mr. Roslewicz and Mr. Kozielec.
   "You’re dealing with the cream of the crop, not the occasional
shooter," Mr. Kozielec said.
   The trio’s next chance to qualify for the National Senior
Games, to be held in 2003, will be next summer at the New Jersey Senior
Olympics.
   "I would definitely do it again," Mr. Roslewicz said.